Saves The DaySound The Alarm10/04/2006 Vagrant RecordsAfter a year in the wilderness, Saves The Day deployed the adage 'Better the Devil you know', by re-signing to Vagrant records in order to be able to release...

Taking Back SundayMakeDamnSure22/05/2006 Warner BrosSingle ReviewIt's colours to the mast emo time for this unashamed heart on sleeve New York outfit, stemming from a haunting, percussion led accompaniment that is juxtaposed by searing guitar interludes,...

The Fiery FurnacesBenton Harbour BluesSingle ReviewWhen The Fiery Furnaces signature rustic keyboard sound kicks in, you cannot help but gripping yourself for a journey of gritty quirkiness with heart and a little eccentricity. The epicentre...

Hellcat Records PresentsGive 'Em The Boot Album ReviewWhile the doomsayers have been predicting the death of punk for years, Hellcat Records, rather than writing the epitaph have been doing their utmost to extend its life...

Robots In Disguise Turn It Up (President 22/05/2006)Single ReviewA swooning nature embodied by Sue Denim and Dee Plume added to the hint of eccentricity, snappy beats and a terse lyrical touch contained in this limited...

Morrissey with support from Tiger Army (Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 12/05/06)Racing psychobilly with a double bass platform is taking off to rev up those soaking up the pre-Morrissey build up. This Californian trio are a...

Thousand Natural ShocksUnder The Sun/AttackReviewBlazing the more ripping side of the indie genre sees this compact quartet of West Country whippersnappers releasing their barnyard rehearsed, debut AA side single. They shake the foundations of musical...

The Sunshine UndergroundAin't Losing Any SleepCity Rockers 15/05/06The assertively stammering vocals of Craig Wellington are thrown around by the climbing clatter of shrill percussion and winding guitars let out in opener 'Ain't Losing Any Sleep',...

ClayhillMine At LastEat Sleep RecordsAlbum Review01/05/06Could this be the summer where subtlety and craft make a Canute like stand against the customary riff heavy guitar craze? Clayhill, similar to contemporaries Adem, have come up with...

The StreetsSupport from SwayManchester Apollo 27/04/2006"I go by the name of Sway and I represent the whole of the UK."This is the virtue extolled by the hip/hop duo Sway, who immediately with their caustic rhymes,...

SemaphoreEP ReviewThe raindrops of a pattering instrumental rock-out fall down relentlessly, before matters settle with the dusky and laid back, yet slightly haunting vocals casting a shadow, with help from the bemused journeying song writing...

Chicane Manchester Academy 3, 22/04/2006Live ReviewThe walk to the Academy Three venue is like heading to a Chicane gig 10 years hence, as excited young whippersnappers make their way passed us to see the new...

Killing JokeHosannahs From The Basements Of HellCooking VinylAlbum ReviewThe band who some say set the way for the grunge explosion leading to Nirvana's immortality, show that not only has their sound outlived most of the...

OrsonBright Idea08/05/06 Mercury RecordsSingle ReviewSuch is the topsy-turvy nature of the modern music set that one minute Orson were playing a cosy gig in Manchester's Academy Three. Just a few months later the swirling 'No...

Imperial VipersSearching: Falling: Silence24/04/06 Eminence RecordsAlbum ReviewBring out the fatted calf, the prodigal son that is haunting, heart on sleeve, old fashioned Rock N' Roll has returned to bite you in the arse. The Bedfordshire...

Gabrielle's Wish Here From The Neck Down ReviewLo-fi post-rock with a zinging jungle feel is what opener 'Member', is all about and it creates quite a mystical atmosphere from the authoritative base of Robert Corless'...

Fall Out BoyDance, DanceMercury Records 17/04/06Single ReviewWith help from the wrapping percussion of Andrew Hurley, we are taken on a journey to a prom and it isn't like in the movies. Singer Patrick Stump takes...

Embrace Preston Guild Hall 15/04/06Live ReviewEmbrace ended last year on a career high, following an Arena Tour, but on the Manchester leg of it, singer Danny McNamara admitted that it took a little while for...

Time AgainThe Stories Are TrueHellcat 24/04/2006Album ReviewRocketing funk/punk throws together tit-bits of what makes modern punk engaging, with the balls of Pennywise swinging from the hybrid frame of Rancid and NO FX. The frenetic and...

King Biscuit TimeKwangchow24/04/2006 PoptonesSingle ReviewCrunching indie/folk circles around like a flushing toilet at a post hotel, as the echoing, rugged and slightly psychedelic vocals of Steve Mason sit up from a cosy bed of summery,...

The CrimeaManchester Academy Three08/04/2006Live ReviewThe effortless and uplifting nature of Welsh outfit The Crimea, displayed by the backing band is breath-taking, but I hear you add there are many compact bands out there today, so...

Boy Kill BoySuzie Vertigo 08/05/2006Single ReviewThings are fitting together like a movie plot for the lashing East London quartet of Boy Kill Boy. They have timed the release of their most complete single to coincide...

We Are Scientists IForward, Russia Support Manchester Academy 1 07/04/2006 Live Review A jarring set of piercing post rock with a ranging disco stab is being fired out by the tension trashing Leeds outfit of...

NizlopiGirlsFDM Records 03/04/06Single ReviewThe reason why the pre-Christmas success of the adventuring 'JCB Song', by the human beatbox of John Parker and Luke Conannon, who form Nizlopi, was so compelling is because you knew that...

Less Than JakeBoys Night Out Support Manchester Academy 102/04/2006Live ReviewA crunching set of post rock with occasional drinks breaks in the punk genre is being belted out, by this Conor Lovat-Fraser steered sextet. In numbers...

White Rose MovementGirls In The BackIndependiente 10/04/06Single ReviewSpunky glam/rock with a sordid electro 'Kick', sees Norfolk's punchy screachers consolidating from the blasé base of their debut album. This is one of their friskiest offerings and...

LadyfuzzKerfuffle03/04/2006 Transgressive RecordsAlbum ReviewTrashy and punchy garage rock/indie backdrops wrap around the slightly gruff and punchy vocals of Liz Neumayr to give the whirlwind effect to many of the short, but flashy numbers. Liz bends...